1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing technology that provides information on industrial wastes. The information provides assistance in the delivery of industrial wastes from industrial waste-generating sites to industrial waste treatment sites based on exchanged information about industrial wastes including metal oxide wastes with a server that connects with terminals at the industrial waste-generating sites and terminals at the industrial waste treatment sites through a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large amount of iron-containing dust that is generated in iron and steel plants and automobile junkyards is heat treated in treatment plants to remove volatile metals such as zinc and lead and to recover high-purity metallic iron from the wastes. Known heat treatment processes for blast furnace dust and electric furnace dust and mill scales from the steel plants are rotary hearth furnace processes, kiln processes, shaft kiln processes, and reductive fusion processes.
Large-scale blast furnace integrated steelworks, which generate large quantities of dust, allow efficient operations of their own dust treatment facilities, while medium- and small-scale electric furnace plants, which generate small quantities of dust, may require a collective treatment, that is, dust generated in different iron and steel plants are collectively disposed in a dust treatment facility for achieving economies of scale.
The blast furnace integrated steelworks could enjoy economies of scale if dusts from other places are disposed in their dust treatment facilities. Such treatment systems are preferable for economical reasons, but require large spaces for storing large quantities of dust from their own plants and from other places. However, storage areas for dust being industrial wastes are limited in the plants. Thus, it is difficult to receive a variety of dust in large quantities from other places.
Dust and industrial wastes are composed of various types. For example, converter furnace dust, electric furnace dust, and mill scales contain large amounts of metal oxides and small amounts of carbonaceous compounds functioning as reducing agents. On the other hand, blast furnace dust and carbonaceous industrial wastes contain large amounts of carbonaceous reducing agents.
Recently, Internet electronic commerce networks have been utilized. In electronic commerce, users view electronic trade catalogs such as book catalogs that are stored in servers and order articles of commerce through the networks.
Delivery of industrial wastes by conventional electronic commerce methods are difficult for the following reasons: When an industrial waste disposer orders a desired waste by viewing electronic information on industrial wastes, the waste disposer cannot select the desired waste from a variety of wastes generated in many different places, as a matter of fact. For example, it is difficult to select the most proper waste from very similar wastes. Furthermore, the required quantity for the waste disposer is generally different from the quantity of waste generated in a plant. No method for solving such a mismatching is not proposed.